


Outdated and Replaced

by IronLlama



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, M/M, Magic, Pardoned Rogues, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Protective Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28163676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronLlama/pseuds/IronLlama
Summary: The first battle together after the rogues have been pardoned leads to an outburst of anger and an exhausted Sorcerer Supreme.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 6
Kudos: 632





	Outdated and Replaced

"Enemy on your left, fourth floor."

Tony whirled around midair and fired a single repulsor blast through the large glass window of the building's fourth floor, shattering it to pieces. The blast hit home and sent the enemy flying into the wall. The aliens this time around looked more human thanks to the full-bodied, metal armor they all wore. Underneath however was a different story as Tony had the unfortunate luck of discovering after he managed to knock off one of the things' helmet. There was far more teeth, not enough eyes, and skin resembling moldy cheese. Tony couldn't thank the stars enough for the full-bodied armor. The image wasn't going to leave his mind for a while.

"There are more coming from the rooftop behind you boss."

"Thanks for the heads up Friday! How's everyone else holding up?" Turning and firing off some more blasts, Tony quickly flew out of the way of a large, purple burst of energy not too unlike his own, though much larger. Apparently these things had their own guns.

"Rogers and Romanoff are currently engaging a group of enemies two blocks south of you, minor injuries detected. Peter has just finished immobilizing two of them in the third building to your left, no injuries detected, and Stephen has recently dispelled of a rather large group of them the next street over. No injuries, but his breathing has picked up significantly since."

"Shit, get me patched through to Stephen's com now, private channel please." Dodging another blast just in the nick of time, he made quick work in disposing the last three, hitting them square on with three perfectly placed shots of his own to the chest. Not the head, never again.

"Tony?"

"Stephen, darling, how are you holding up over there?"

Tony could practically hear Stephen roll his eyes before answering, voice quavering lightly, "I'm fine Tony, don't worry about me. Focus on the enemy before they blast you out of the sky. The thought of having to scrape my boyfriend off the street isn't a particularly pleasant one."

Tony couldn't help the grin that came with Stephen referring to him as his boyfriend. The two of them had made it official only a couple weeks ago, but with how long they'd been dancing around each other and going on 'totally not a date' dates, the two of them were practically an item for months now. Hearing it officially from the sorcerer's own lips was something else, something Tony never wanted to end. Unless of course boyfriend were to be changed to husband, but that was a thought for another time.

"Boss behind you!"

Tony just barely missed taking a large blast to the back, the beam nicking him in the arm and sending him spinning for a second before he regained his positioning. "Shit!"

"Tony?!"

"I'm fine, just getting real tired of these things trying to shoot me out of the sky. I'm starting to think they're a little jealous." Locating the enemy, he quickly took them out before another blast could be fired in his direction. "Listen as much as I'd love to stay and chat I need to make sure the kid knows about these laser guns of theirs."

"Go, I'll talk to you after the fight is won."

"Roger that." Tony smirked as he ended the connection. "Friday?"

"Patching you through to Peter now, private channel."

"You know me so well."

Firing his foot repulsors on high, Tony quickly flew over to the building Peter had been in last. The web slinger was no where in sight, but the two aliens the kid had taken out of the ring were still there trying to break free from their webbed restraints. He wasted no time in finishing what the kid couldn't bring himself to do. Tony couldn't blame him and certainly didn't want Peter to ever feel like he had to kill in order to be a hero. There was always others like himself to do the dirty work.

"Hey Mr. Stark!"

"Kid, great, where are you?"

"By the park, a couple of these guys were over here harassing this poor old lady who was just trying to feed some pigeons. Can you believe it Mr. Stark, an old lady. I mean really, these guys have no manners!"

"I guess it's a good thing you're here to teach them some then isn't it?" Tony smiled as Karen's scan of Peter sent to Friday showed the kid to still have no injuries aside from some minor bruising. "Listen, I don't know exactly what they are yet, but some of these guys have laser guns that shoot out energy similar to my repulsors only purple and much larger. You understand?"

"Really? That's so cool! I mean-not cool, really bad!" Peter couldn't hide the excitement in his voice no matter how much he tried. "I understand, watch out for large, purple lasers, got it Mr. Stark!"

"Great, I'll talk to you later kid. Stay safe and no lasers!" Friday ended the connection as Peter laughed.

"Boss, would you like me to inform Rogers and Romanoff of the large, purple lasers?" Tony could have sworn he heard amusement clear in the AI's tone.

As much as he would love to give her the okay, he knew he needed to talk to them himself. Along with the rest of the newly pardoned rogues, Steve and Romanoff had only recently returned to the Avengers a couple of months back. Tony certainly hadn't tried to hide his disdain the first few days, but at the end of the day the world needed the Avengers, all of them. If it meant having to fake nice than so be it.

"No, patch me through to the main channel." Tony took a deep breath as he flew around the wrecked buildings looking for any stragglers. For the most part it seemed like they made quick work to the bulk of their army, only a few aliens left scattered around. These things hardly posed a threat on their own.

"On your left!"

"Got them, all clear over here."

Tony couldn't help, but roll his eyes, "Glad to hear it cap. Hello Romanoff, have the pleasure of being introduced to these guy's laser guns yet? I personally rate them 4 out of 5 stars, would look much better if they were red."

Of the two, Tony could stand Natasha, but Rogers was still a sore spot since the entire Barnes incident. He could play nice with everyone else, but made no attempt to curve his dislike for the man. Everyone knew and made sure to stay out of it, not a soul brave enough to try and convince Tony to behave nicely. Everyone simply turned the other way. Well, everyone, but Stephen and Peter.

Peter, the snarky little shit that he could be, would use Rogers as the butt of his jokes frequently and seemed to love reminding him hilariously of how old he really was. The look on Rogers' face the first time Peter had called him a Boomer was priceless and sent Tony into a fit of laughter right in the middle of an Avengers meeting. If it had resulted in Peter finding a hundred dollar bill in his backpack the next day, well, could you blame him. The kid was a professional and deserved to be paid for his work.

Stephen on the other hand was an entirely different ball game. The sorcerer had made a point of mostly ignoring Rogers, pointedly greeting everyone, but him and only responding to inquires and comments from the others. The first time he ever uttered a word to the man was only two weeks back when he quickly intervened in the middle of a shouting match between Tony and Rogers. His words had been dripping with venom as he calmly put the rogue back in his place, the hint of a very real threat left unspoken, but clear as day. Tony had nearly jumped the man right there, but reigned himself in long enough to get the sorcerer alone. It wasn't how Tony envisioned their first time, but he didn't mind the least and judging by Stephen's own enthusiasm he didn't seem to mind either.

Rogers' voice brought him back to the present and he tried not to groan out loud. "We haven't seen anything of the sort Tony. Are you sure it's not just your own attack being fired back at you?"

"Thank you for your very helpful insight genius, but no, entirely different color. Dr. Strange has clearly seen them judging by his lovely comment about me being shot out of the sky. Apparently I'm not too far off about them being jealous of me."

"So you've been talking to those two privately? Anything else we should know?" Natasha sounded slightly annoyed, but not nearly as much as Rogers.

"Like why you think it's okay to only communicate with half the team during the middle of a battle?"

"Oh I'm sorry, is that not what's happening here, communication?"

"You know what I mean Tony. What if something had happened to Natasha and I before you could get to us because you chose to inform the others first instead of the entire team?"

"I'm sorry Rogers, my bad for assuming you're a grown adult who could handle himself. A super soldier at that, but don't worry. I won't make the same mistake again. Daddy will be right here to hold your hand next time."

"Okay you two, enough! Can we please refocus on the task at hand?" Natasha was clearly done listening to their little spat.

Tony was about to give her a piece of his mind when Stephen's voice suddenly cut through the tension, loud and clear.

"Requiring assistance immediately!"

Tony felt his heartrate spike at the urgency in his boyfriend's voice and took off immediately, all repulsors on full throttle. Friday locked onto Stephen's location and guided him straight to where he was before sending the information to the others. Peter was already following Tony's lead, swinging not far behind him.

Tony spotted Stephen instantly, surrounded by a swarm of aliens. Having used so much of his magic earlier to expel the last group to another dimension, he was struggling to keep up with their relentless attacks, switching between defense and offense.

Swooping in, Tony fired off a series of consecutive blasts, taking out multiple enemies. Peter came swinging into action, using his momentum to grab and toss one into the nearest building before deploying a web grenade. The blast managed to quickly subdue a decent amount, giving Stephen and Tony the chance to easily dispose of them. Rogers and Romanoff arrived shortly after and with their added assistance the group finally managed to take down the hoard of aliens.

"I think that's all of them Mr. Stark!"

Tony smiled wearily as he glanced to his side where Peter was sticking to the side of a building, the suit's eyes wide with excitement, "Yeah, that should be-"

A high pitched whine suddenly caught everyone's attention as they all turned towards the culprit. An alien four times the size of the others was lumbering down the street, an entourage of smaller aliens surrounding it. Attached to the things back was some kind of advanced looking cannon that was firing up, the high pitched whine emitting from it.

Peter shifted anxiously beside him, "Uh, Mr. Stark?"

Firing up his repulsors, Tony took off towards the group, stopping a few blocks away before firing a blast directly at the cannon.

"Tony no!"

The cannon went off, the air rippling around it before shooting forward like a projectile convection current. The wall of air grew larger, the heat melting street lamps and cars instantaneously. It completely evaporated Tony's blast upon impact like it was nothing.

"Shit, everyone clear the street!" Tony quickly aimed his repulsors down in a last second effort to change course. He was too close, the wall of air inches from his face.

The air around him suddenly exploded into a swarm of bright blue butterflies. Tony spun around in confusion, the swarm surrounding him and blocking his line of sight in every direction. "Friday!"

Before the AI could respond, a flash of purple caught his attention and he turned just in time to take a beam of energy straight to the chest. The blast knocked out his power and sent him flying into the side of a building. He felt the world spinning and falling away from him before his back collided with the ground, head slamming into the concrete. Static was all he could hear alongside the deafening ringing in his ears.

He wasn't sure how much time passed before the power came back to his suit and Friday greeted him anxiously.

"How bad is it?" He gasped as he rolled onto his knees.

"My scans show no indication of any major injuries to your person. You do appear to have a mild concussion from impact and the suit has taken heavy damage to the chest."

"So just a few dinks then. That's good." Pushing himself off the ground and onto his feet, Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when Peter landed next to him. The kid quickly invading his personal space.

"Mr. Stark are you okay?! That looked really bad, I mean, it was the laser gun right, are you hurt? I can-"

"Hey, hey, kid slow down, I'm fine." Peter quieted down immediately, his shoulders sagging in relief. "What about the aliens, that air cannon thing?"

"Taken care of. Whatever that cannon thing was it's destroyed now. We haven't seen anymore aliens, I think that was the last of them."

Nodding, Tony looked around for Stephen, surprised the sorcerer hadn't already come to greet him like he did after every battle to make sure he's alright. After a good hit like that he expected the man to be the first one by his side. "Where's Stephen?"

Peter suddenly looked uncomfortable as he squirmed, "Oh right you didn't see it. Dr. Strange he-"

"He's gone."

Tony's head snapped around to face Rogers who came waltzing up to them, a deep scowl on his face. He didn't miss the way the eyes on the spider suit shifted into a glare, Peter's stance stiffening. "Excuse me?"

Rogers glared as he looked at Tony, the anger in his eyes seemingly not directed at him. "That little stunt he pulled left you blind without warning and nearly got you killed. The rest of us could barely tell what was going on, that the enemies attack had even been stopped and wasn't still heading right for us. We don't need someone so reckless on the field. How are we supposed to trust him to have our backs when he's pulling stunts like this?"

Realization finally dawned on Tony. The swarm of butterflies had been Stephen's doing and whatever it was it had literally stopped a wall of melting heat from burning Tony alive. Retracting his helmet back, Tony closed the distance between Rogers, a fire burning in his eyes and anger rising with every step. "What did you do?"

Rogers folded his arms across his chest as he stared Tony down, "I told him the truth. That we didn't need him and he was more than welcome to leave. The three of us were able to get everything under control just fine without him. He would have just gotten in the way again Tony."

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"The captain of this team as you've clearly forgotten."

Tony was seeing red as he clenched his fists in pure rage. "I haven't forgotten a damn thing, you have! You left Rogers, you chose your team and it wasn't us! If you think you can just waltz back in like nothing happened think again because I will never forget what you've done. You have no loyalty to this team so what makes you think you're the least bit qualified to be its captain?"

Rogers opened his mouth to argue, but Tony shot him down quick, "No, don't even bother Rogers! You no longer get a say in ranks, not since you turned your back on us! Hell you're lucky I even let you give your opinion on what should go down because you sure as hell don't deserve that level of curtesy! So either accept your place on this team and back the fuck off or leave! You know where the door is!"

Snapping the helmet back into place, Tony took off before Rogers had a chance to reply, Friday sending a quick text to Peter apologizing for his sudden departure and alerting him to where he was heading. There was only one place he could think of that Stephen would run to when he needed to be alone. As he felt his repulsors kick into overdrive, Friday displayed the reply to his text, managing to get a snort out of the man.

 **Peter** : Let him know I'd be more than happy to punch Rogers in the face for him if he wants.

 **Peter** : Seriously, can I?

\-- --- - --- --

Tony walked through the halls of the sanctum to the library, knowing well enough by now how to get around the place without a guide. As he drew closer he noticed the light coming through the crack of the door. His hunch about where his boyfriend fled to had been correct. Walking over to the door, he grabbed the handle and swung it open. A burst of red fabric rushed up to greet him, the cloak of levitation fluttering frantically in his face.

"What the hell?!" Startled, Tony took a step back, hand flying over his chest. Jerking back at his reaction, the cloak quickly spun around and shot into the room, coming to a stop inches from Stephen who was sprawled out on the floor, unmoving. "Stephen!"

Tony rushed over and fell to his knees beside the man, hands instantly reaching his neck to check for a pulse. He found a steady pulse and blew out a sigh of relief before shuffling Stephen so his head was resting in his lap. A quick scan from Friday showed no injuries. So overextending his magic then, of course. Stephen had already looked and sounded unsteady by the time the team got to him. Whatever he had done to transform that last attack into a bunch of butterflies must have taken the last of his strength and instead of turning to Tony for help Stephen had fled here on his own thanks to one royal piece of-

"Tony?"

Tony snapped to attention at the faint whisper of his name and brown eyes met blue as Stephen looked up at him through half-lidded eyes.

"Hey, you nearly gave me a heart attack there." Tony gave a ghost of a smile as he ran his fingers through Stephen's hair. The man leaned into the touch, eyes closing as he let out a soft sigh.

"I'm sorry." Stephen mumbled tiredly

"No you're not because you have nothing to be sorry for. Rogers is a jackass who's opinions don't matter. You saved my life."

"I should have checked on you, made sure you were okay."

"No, Stephen look at me," He did without hesitation, "You are beyond exhausted and clearly unable to think straight considering you actually took Rogers' words to heart. He knew that and took advantage of it because he's still upset about what happened two weeks ago. Big baby couldn't let it go so this is all his fault technically. Right?" Tony looked up at the cloak for agreement and got it in the form of an enthusiastic shake. "See?"

Stephen, barely clinging to consciousness, hummed softly, "I very much enjoyed what happened two weeks ago."

Tony barked out a laugh as he moved to pick Stephen up with some much appreciated assistance from the cloak. "In that case why don't you hurry up and get some rest so we can try and reenact it later."

Another small hum was Stephen's reply before the man passed out. Carrying him up to bed, Tony flopped down next to him after making sure the sorcerer was all settled. He would have to confront Rogers again, but he was in no hurry to do so. A few days away from the compound with his boyfriend was what he needed right now and he was looking forward to every minute of it. Feeling his own eyelids grow heavy, Tony took out his phone and shot off a quick text before succumbing to sleep.

 **Mr. Stark** : Permission granted.

 **Peter** : Sweet!


End file.
